


Spirit's Eve

by EllieL



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Family Fluff, Holidays, Millenium Falcon (Star Wars)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:34:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27208201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllieL/pseuds/EllieL
Summary: When Leia arrives at the Falcon one night, something's a little different about its appearance.Written for the 2020 HanLeia Trick-or-Treat, using the prompts "decorating the Falcon" and "autumn holiday from their home planet."
Relationships: Leia Organa/Han Solo
Comments: 10
Kudos: 27
Collections: Hanleia 2020 Halloween Trick or Treat Challenge





	Spirit's Eve

Leia rubbed at her aching neck as she made her way across the hangar bay to the Falcon. They were supposed to leave for Naboo that evening, but her meeting had run far later than planned after a diplomatic situation with a group of Psaurids; Han had sent her a message that he and Jaina would be waiting for her at the ship so they could get underway as soon as she was free.

As she approached the Falcon in the evening dim, she noticed that the running lights on the ship, usually a warm white light, were a cool bluish tone. It gave her pause, and she looked at it more closely as she approached; usually she took the appearance of the old freighter almost for granted, being so used to seeing and traveling on it over the past decade. But now, there was something different about it. 

The blue light seemed to change the angles and lines of the ship, and make the shadows darker and deeper. As usual when waiting for her, the ramp was down, but it too was lit oddly, the light diffused by some white curtains or sheets that had been hung around inside it, obscuring the view to the interior. One of the lights seemed to have been covered with a violet filter, adding to the eeriness. She couldn’t figure out what was going on, or what would have possessed Han to change the lights on the ship; though perhaps they always could be changed, and she just didn’t realize it--the ability to make the ship look slightly different via changing the exterior lighting  _ would _ be handy in a smuggling ship.

She didn’t get much of a chance to finish contemplating what might be going on when a flapping white shape charged through the sheets and down the ramp, slamming into her, arms attempting to wrap around her waist but stifled by the sheet which appeared to be covering them, too.

“Mama!” Jaina’s voice was unmistakable, and excited, so she could only conclude that the lights and decorations were something for her. 

“What were you supposed to say?” A faux-whisper came from the darkness at the top of the ramp.

“Oh. Boo!”

“Boo?” She looked down at their daughter, noting that holes had been cut in one of their old bed sheets so that the little girl could see through them, and the whole thing cinched around her waist with an old piece of orange cabling. 

“I’m a ghost!”

“I can see that. Why?”

“It’s for...why, Daddy?” Jaina turned and looked up into the darkness at the top of the ramp.

Han stepped out, dressed in dark colors but holding round orange lantern. “Tonight is Spirit’s Eve on Corellia.”

“And what can you tell me about Spirit’s Eve, Jai?” She tickled the little ghost until she giggled and squealed. They had been introducing the four-year-old to holidays from their respective worlds, as well as intergalactic holidays, since she was an infant. But this was one they hadn’t celebrated before, and one she knew nothing about. 

“There are ghosts. They only come this one night. You put out special lights for them so the good ones can find you. We made a light.”

“I see that!” She led the little girl up the ramp, greeting Han with a quick kiss. “Why are you dressed up as a ghost, then?”

“To scare the bad ones away. There are bad ones too.”

Han took over the description. “Yeah, there’s good ghosts you want to find their way home, and they help keep the evil ones away. The evil ones are looking for somewhere to haunt.”

“And how do you know if it’s a good ghost,” she patted Jaina’s head, “or a bad ghost?”

The girl shrugged, and looked up at Han, who looked momentarily confused by the question. “Well...the good ones, they’re supposed to be family lost in the prior year, finding their way home to stay in your memories. But the bad ones, they do all kinds of stuff, curdle milk and slam doors and rearrange the furniture.”

She nodded sagely, glancing down at her daughter’s wide eyes through the holes in her ‘ghost’ costume. “The lights and decorations, they’re to scare away evil spirits, too?”

“Puzzlers!” Exclaimed Jaina. 

“Puzzlers?” Leia echoed, furrowing her brow. 

“Tricky things. Makes it harder for the bad spirits that might be looking for you. So you wear costumes or change somethin’ about your house. Or ship. Make it hard to get in.”

“Daddy let me play with all the lights. There are so many colors! I thought blue looked scariest, though. But green was scary too.”

“I didn’t know they changed colors,” she said, as they sealed up the ramp and made their way back to the lounge.

“Gotta keep some secrets, sweetheart.” Han smirked, then offered her a fizzy drink, something she only let herself have while on vacation.

“I feel like you were keeping this holiday a secret. We could have had a lot of fun with this on bases over the years.”

“Yeah, well…” he ruffled the back of his hair, then looked at Jaina. “You wanna go hit the light panel, turn ‘em on in here too?”

The little girl nodded and scampered down the ring corridor to the light panel, and moments later the interior lights turned blue, too.

“This is kinda the kid’s version of it. If we’d done it on base, all the Corellian’s woulda had to celebrate the more adult version, and that mighta gotten a little out of hand.”

“Oh?”

“There’s a lot more, uh, trickery to thwart evil spirits, and a lot more toasting of ancestral ones.”

Leia was about to respond to that by noting how little encouragement it took to get the Corellians toasting  _ anything _ , but Jaina came bouncing back into the lounge, and in the odd interior lighting, she did look almost spooky. Leia held out her arm, and the girl slid onto the bench beside her, grabbing what was evidently her own abandoned fizzy drink. It took a minute to untangle the cording, but finally Leia freed her daughter from the ghostly costume, allowing her to drink.

“Are we leaving now?” she asked after two sips of fizzy.

“Sure thing, kiddo. You wanna strap in here or come be my copilot?”

“Copilot! Copilot!”

Leia shook her head as the two of them bounded down the corridor to the cockpit. She closed her eyes for a minute, then opened them again to appreciate the eerie glow to the lounge. It had taken on many different appearances over the years, but this was a new one, and one she was happy their daughter was encouraging him to share. After taking another sip of her drink, she rose and headed to the cockpit herself, just as the engines fired up.

It was a holiday, and they were headed on vacation. Family time had begun with a “boo” this evening, and she was happier for it. And hopefully this would be a holiday they could celebrate together for many years to come.


End file.
